Search continues for three men missing in Kelantan boat tragedy

The Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency (MMEA) searched an area of 351.6 square nautical miles today, said Kelantan MMEA director Capt (Maritime) Muhd Nur Syam Asmawie Yaacob.

The three missing men are Arman Ismail, 43; Harun Daud, 57; and Che Wadi Bakar, 40s.

The five men found drowned were Mohd Syahrizan Daud, 40s; Muhamad Zaki Muhamad Nordin, 19; Wan Aminudin Wan Hussin, 60s; a Thai national identified only as Pokta, 50s; and Ahmad Syafiq Che Alim, 30.

Twenty people, aged between 18 and 60, had gone on a fishing trip. The vessel capsized in a storm at about 8 pm on Monday.

Muhd Nur Syam Asmawie said that after 7 pm today, only the MMEA will continue with the search, focusing on the water surface, and the other agencies will resume their search at 7 am tomorrow.

Today, the search team was assisted by local fishermen, he told reporters at the Kuala Kemasin Fish Landing Jetty here. He also said that assistance will be sought from Thailand authorities and fishermen's associations.

He said divers from the Fire and Rescue Scuba Unit came up with nothing after two dives yesterday in the vicinity of the capsized boat and surrounding area.

Sufri, 60, the elder brother of missing Harun, said the family held a ‘solat hajat’ prayer hoping for Harun to be found soon.

"My brother was very excited to go squid jigging," he said, adding that Harun did not go fishing often and was not a good swimmer either.